Alternative to STESSA?

Real Estate Technology

Alternative to STESSA?

Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2012 · 141 posts · 38 votes

Hello - has anyone been able to find an alternative to Stessa? I thought it was great at first and conceptually it is, but the Automatic downloads are nearly useless. I've had a problem with one credit card for a year and a half....A YEAR AND A HALF and its not fixed. They just keep responding that they are working on it (really for a year and a half?). Now none of our other accounts are downloading and just continues to give an error message about too many downloads in 24 hours or something and thats not the case here. We spent a lot of time bringing everything over too so its really really frustrating to now have to find something else again. I don't mind paying some money either, we didn't do it because it was free, but because we thought it was great. However, we only have 10 doors so its not worth it for the big boy software. Thanks in advance for any help on this one.

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Rental Property Investor · Canton, OH · Member since 2018 · 59 posts · 77 votes

Our automatic imports don't work either. Same experience... the "ticket" has been open for more than a year.

But now Stessa moved from 100% free and added an optional paid subscription level. One of the features you have to pay for is the ability to assign a transaction to the portfolio level. This isn't an optional feature for anyone with more than one door... its super basic and definitely a necessity.

So basically if you have more than one door, Stessa is no longer free.

I'm looking for alternatives... would appreciate any suggestions from you folks who have migrated to something else!

See this reply in the discussion

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Greg Soon
Member since 2019 · 112 posts · 19 votes
3y
@Vicki X.
Any 5houghts on the Rentec vs ReiHub vs Stessa?
0 Reply
Tim J.
Investor · Vermont and New York · Member since 2023 · 308 posts · 309 votes
3y
Quote from @Greg Soon:

@Tim J.
I am exactly in the same boat. I like Stessa but with charge it seems better for me to pay for an 8ntegrated solution.
I checked Rentec which seems to manage both finance and property (maintenance, inspection).
People also mentioning Rei Hub, and you are mentioning Buildium.
I have about 30 doors. Wonder why you choose Buildium over Rentec.

Frankly, I forgot what the deciding factor was. They were pretty evenly split matched. I encourage you to contact both orgs and ask for a demo - 30 minutes with each one - ask lots of questions.

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Vicki X.Pro Member
Investor · Member since 2022 · 186 posts · 155 votes
3y
@Greg Soon I tested REIHub thought feature wise, their software is professional and complete However, I also thought they are too technical for investors and require too many steps in bookkeeping. Please reach out if you'd like to learn more!
PS: I was confused why accumulated depreciation was positive in their balance sheet. If it works exactly the way I saw, it could be a mistake.
1 Reply
Jay Thomas
Chicago, IL · Member since 2017 · 142 posts · 62 votes
3y
Quote from @Vicki X.:
@Greg Soon I tested REIHub thought feature wise, their software is professional and complete However, I also thought they are too technical for investors and require too many steps in bookkeeping. Please reach out if you'd like to learn more!
PS: I was confused why accumulated depreciation was positive in their balance sheet. If it works exactly the way I saw, it could be a mistake.
Your accumulated depreciation was probably entered incorrectly. You enter depreciation as a debit and accumulated deprecation as a credit...
0 Reply
Vicki X.Pro Member
Investor · Member since 2022 · 186 posts · 155 votes
3y
Quote from @Jay Thomas:
Quote from @Vicki X.:

@Greg Soon I tested REIHub thought feature wise, their software is professional and complete However, I also thought they are too technical for investors and require too many steps in bookkeeping. Please reach out if you'd like to learn more!
PS: I was confused why accumulated depreciation was positive in their balance sheet. If it works exactly the way I saw, it could be a mistake.

Your accumulated depreciation was probably entered incorrectly. You enter depreciation as a debit and accumulated deprecation as a credit...
@Jay ThomasThat's the thing. I entered accumulated depreciation as a credit, but it showed as +$300 in the balance sheet. That made me a bit concerned about their reports.
0 Reply
Jay Thomas
Chicago, IL · Member since 2017 · 142 posts · 62 votes
3y
Quote from @Vicki X.:
Quote from @Jay Thomas:

Quote from @Vicki X.:

@Greg Soon I tested REIHub thought feature wise, their software is professional and complete However, I also thought they are too technical for investors and require too many steps in bookkeeping. Please reach out if you'd like to learn more!
PS: I was confused why accumulated depreciation was positive in their balance sheet. If it works exactly the way I saw, it could be a mistake.

Your accumulated depreciation was probably entered incorrectly. You enter depreciation as a debit and accumulated deprecation as a credit...

@Jay ThomasThat's the thing. I entered accumulated depreciation as a credit, but it showed as +$300 in the balance sheet. That made me a bit concerned about their reports.
Try reaching out to their customer support.
0 Reply
Vicki X.Pro Member
Investor · Member since 2022 · 186 posts · 155 votes
3y
Quote from @Jay Thomas:
Quote from @Vicki X.:

Quote from @Jay Thomas:

Quote from @Vicki X.:

@Greg Soon I tested REIHub thought feature wise, their software is professional and complete However, I also thought they are too technical for investors and require too many steps in bookkeeping. Please reach out if you'd like to learn more!
PS: I was confused why accumulated depreciation was positive in their balance sheet. If it works exactly the way I saw, it could be a mistake.

Your accumulated depreciation was probably entered incorrectly. You enter depreciation as a debit and accumulated deprecation as a credit...

@Jay ThomasThat's the thing. I entered accumulated depreciation as a credit, but it showed as +$300 in the balance sheet. That made me a bit concerned about their reports.

Try reaching out to their customer support.
@Jay Thomas I wanted to to update my earlier message but couldn't. It turned out that I booked a Credit, and a Debit (recapture) for accumulated depreciations. So the calculated result was correct, although it would never happen in real life! Thanks!
0 Reply
Shiyu Zhao
Real Estate Investor · Member since 2017 · 3 posts · 1 vote
3y
Maybe you having 10 doors is already enough for "big boy software" you mentioned. Quickbooks is probably the most tried-and-true solution.
I unfortunately also had problems with Stessa. I have enough transactions on Stessa now that they start to produce inconsistent reports (they would randomly lose one transaction and the transaction will appear the next time I query again). I ended up having to manually reconcile some of the Stessa reports, which defeated the purpose of using an online platform. I haven't tried other solutions mentioned in this post yet, but have found quickbooks to be fine. Manual spreadsheet is also okay especially if have bookkeeping help from platforms like upwork.
0 Reply
Heidi Johnson
Member since 2023 · 15 posts · 7 votes
3y
Quote from @Shiyu Zhao:

Maybe you having 10 doors is already enough for "big boy software" you mentioned. Quickbooks is probably the most tried-and-true solution.
I unfortunately also had problems with Stessa. I have enough transactions on Stessa now that they start to produce inconsistent reports (they would randomly lose one transaction and the transaction will appear the next time I query again). I ended up having to manually reconcile some of the Stessa reports, which defeated the purpose of using an online platform. I haven't tried other solutions mentioned in this post yet, but have found quickbooks to be fine. Manual spreadsheet is also okay especially if have bookkeeping help from platforms like upwork.
Similar experience and went with Digb instead of Quickbooks because it's easier to manage multiple properties and I'm not an accountants so I don't want to have to setup my own chart of accounts, etc. I prefer real estate focused.
0 Reply
Sonny Dhillon
Investor · Sacramento · Member since 2018 · 40 posts · 10 votes
3y
Quote from @Steven Fleming:

I think I am going to move to REI Hub. It does have a cost, but not as much as Quickbooks and it still has a Real Estate focus. I also like that you can setup your own account structure which Stessa was lacking. The only issue I am having right now on REI Hub is with importing a property management statement. However, the ability to setup my accounts and correctly account for things is outweighing.

HI Steven, how do you like rei hub, i'm looking for alternative to stessa. I want to either go with reihub or qb. i manage 3 properties duplexes.
0 Reply
Steven FlemingPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Columbia, MD · Member since 2018 · 9 posts · 16 votes
3y

@Sonny Dhillon - I like it. It has been easy to learn and is focused on what Real Estate investors would want to look at. One of my 3 properties is a STR and I was able to make a chart of accounts that helps me track things in a way that Stessa was not allowing. There knowledge base help page has been great also. I am happy that I switched over.
0 Reply
Brian G.
Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
2y
@Steven Fleming what "chart of accounts" helped you in tracking your STR expenses? Does Rei hub let you create/edit your own chart of accounts?
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